Kentucky gives its all, but it’s not enough

For the first 39 minutes and 58 seconds of this game, Tyler Ulis showed the world why he’s one of — if not the — best point guards in the country. Ulis was stupendous, scoring 14 points in the first half and 26 overall. He dished out eight assists, making this his ninth 20+ point, 5+ assist game this season, the most by any player in Kentucky history since they started recording assists back in 1972. Every time Kansas attacked, Ulis responded, either by putting up points himself or putting his teammates in the right positions to score. He practically moved 7-foot Skal Labissiere to all the correct spots, reasoned with referees, and orchestrated the game. When the lights got bright, he got brighter.

For the last 5 minutes and 2 seconds of this game, Tyler Ulis showed he’s human. Ulis had two uncharacteristic turnovers late in the game, the ball inexplicably flying out of his hands as he raced down the court for the game-winner. Anyone who watched the game could tell Tyler was exhausted. With almost all of UK’s post players fouled out, options for scoring became limited, and more than once, Ulis took it upon himself to drive the lane, even if it was full of white jerseys. Ulis is great, but even great players can only do so much.

Even though he gave everything, after the game, Ulis shouldered blame for the 90-84 loss.

“Yeah, those late turnovers weren’t needed,” Ulis said. “I should have just gave the ball up late. Turned it over in regulation at the end, and then late in overtime. That’s just not something I normally do.”

Ulis then asked to be excused because he felt like he was going to throw up. Like I said, he gave everything he had. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

The story of the game? Fouls

Kansas was 30-47 from the free throw line tonight, while Kentucky was 13-22. That’s your game right there. Kansas attempted TWENTY FIVE more free throws than Kentucky, and when that happens, it’s kind of hard to win. Derek Willis, Marcus Lee, Skal Labissiere, and Alex Poythress all fouled out, the first three within regulation. Tyler Ulis can do a lot of things, but even he can’t compensate for two giant holes in the middle. With all of the bigs with experience either fouled out or in foul trouble, Kentucky had to play small ball, relying on Dominique Hawkins in his first game back from injury and a cramping Isaiah Briscoe. Kansas outrebounded Kentucky 42-31, a crippling statistic that ranks right up there with the fouls. The Jayhawks’ 47 free throw attempts were its second most in a game in the last 20 seasons.

“We just gotta learn how to play without fouling. That’s something we’ve been struggling with all year,” Alex Poythress said.

If you wanted to pinpoint the minute the momentum shifted to Kansas’ side, it occurred at 4:51 when Derek Willis fouled out. Both John Calipari and Bill Self mentioned that as a pivotal moment in the game, especially when, upon further review, it didn’t really look like a foul. Kentucky held Kansas scoreless from the field for over six minutes, but once Derek fouled out, the Cats became vulnerable, breaking down on defense and stalling on offense.

I digress…

Wayne Selden, Jr. was unstoppable

…or, at least, Kentucky couldn’t stop him. Selden scored a career-high 33 points tonight, leading Kansas’ rally in the second half. If you had told me that Selden was going to score 33 tonight, I would have predicted a 20-point win for the Jayhawks. So, there’s that.

We got “Good Alex” tonight

We knew going in that, for Kentucky to have a chance, Alex Poythress had to play well, and he did for the most part. Alex finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. More often than not, he held his own in the post and provided a valuable veteran presence when younger players’ tempers flared on the court. It’s easy to rag on Alex at times, but tonight, he helped more than he hurt.

At the free throw line, Briscoe giveth and Briscoe taketh away

Who would have guessed that Briscoe would hit four consecutive free throws to start the game? Not me. Unfortunately, for as good as Briscoe was from the line at the beginning the game, he was bad at the end, missing some crucial free throws in overtime; however, Briscoe was battling cramps and showed some real grit, so I’m not going to pile on him.

There’s still more to learn and time to learn it

Judging by his postgame remarks, Calipari was not happy with tonight’s loss. No coach is ever happy with a loss, of course, but tonight’s game clearly meant a lot to Cal, who used to coach at Kansas and had a chance to knock off the #4 team in the country and almost did it. Calipari refused to accept the moral victory afterwards, telling reporters he was “hacked off” about the loss, which was further proof his team still doesn’t know how to win games.

“No because we’re still doing the same things,” Calipari said when asked if he thought his team took a step forward despite the loss. “It’s losing basketball, it’s Auburn all over again. It just wasn’t the entire game. At Auburn, it was for 15 minutes. Here it was about for five minutes. It was about five or six minutes of losing basketball. All we’ll do is just go possession by possession, is that losing or winning basketball?”

(I love you Cal, but let’s not compare tonight’s performance to the Auburn game, please.) Ultimately, the silver lining in tonight’s storm cloud is time. Forty-six days until the NCAA Tournament, in fact.

“We fought like heck, had our chances to win on the road in this building, and really should have,” Calipari said. “You take an ‘L’ and you go from there.”

The fouls were bad, yes. There were some fatal errors, yes. But taking the #4 team in the country to overtime in their house in January two weeks after one of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory? That makes me excited about March.

Just think how good our home court atmosphere would be if we put the upper arena folks on the floor. I’ve actually seen a old woman yell at people in front of her to set down. Of course that is ur typical lower arena cemetary. Great atmosphere, wish we could match it.

They write and post what makes money. It really is that simple. Year in and out Matt throws out the disparate numbers of hits, calls and interest for football vs basketball. It’s not even close. If the rifle team would get hits and comments there would be a Master marksman on the KSR staff.

You are usually right on Crush, don’t know where you were headed with this one unless it is (too) brilliant sarcasm…Poe’s Law.

I think he just means they’re creating a whole new post for each comment made at the press conference, it’s kind of silly. KSR has like 15-20 posts about 1 game where SOB has like 3-5. It’s why they get to actually have conversations in their comment sections.

Yes. Thank you, Chad. While I actually would like to see more FB coverage, I’m simply pointing out the ridiculous amount of needless BB posts aimed at 1 game and the contradiction that creates. I understand BB is king here, but to make 2 full pages of ‘articles’ covering one game takes credence away from their argument that there is ‘nothing’ to say about FB with signing day 4 days away. Seems they find no shortage of things to write about the BB team. Also, I find it very hard to believe that the numbers are that skewed against FB with so many people constantly asking for more coverage. If this was as true as they want us to believe, why hire Freddie Maggard? WHy go to the trouble of creating the weekly podcast? Bama has no issue discussing FB and BB right now. UK football boards are all busy with conversation right now. Why is KSR so oddly immune to FB clicks as they claim? Simply, I think Matt is just a huge BB fan and that’s the biggest reason for the disparity.

Matt’s Bball bias is definitely a large part of it. I don’t have access to the numbers, only Matt’s reporting of those numbers several times every year. Football coverage has improved considerably in the past 12 months or so but KSR could do more, no question.

Love you Tyler but you’re pouring potpourri on a poop performance. Ulis was the only one with heart in this game. Murray made more defensive mistake than I can shake a stick at! Skal is weak sauce, no argument can be made otherwise. Why in the world Briscoe is allowed to drive to the lane to get fouled is beside me… He can’t shoot, he can’t hit hit FT! As much as I want it for this kid, he has no business being in the game in OT. Fact is, Cal had no other options so we live and die by recruiting. Cal whiffed this year. His 6 misses at the line cost us more than his 12 points scored.

Murray… Can this kid just go to the NBA already?! This guy is the prime example of why I hate the one and done. He never had any intention of playing college basketball other than to get his eligibility for the NBA draft. He is lazy, weak on defense and absent in the crunch. He is the one guy that Cal is the hardest on because he is constantly bone headed. 11 points vs Vandy and 15 tonight?! He can hit the 3 sometimes but he lacks the heart. He’s the Paula Abdul of UK basketball.. “Two steps forward, two steps back” Leaving us back at zero. Bone head, “3” bone head, “3”… Just go play for the Orlando Magic already!

Alex… I love you! My wife loves you, (which I’ve been concerned about) and no one pulls harder for you than the Bluebros family but SWEET JESUS! 13 points tonight is NOT ENOUGH from our senior leader. If it hasn’t gotten through to him at this point, it never will. He is regular who make some awesome plays sometimes. He can’t be counted on.

I’m afraid for my TV. If I see another UK player throw it back to Ulis when the shot clock is winding down I’m going to throw my refrigerator at my TV. This kid does everything and he’s playing with a bunch of scarred kids. Make a damn play! You’re wearing UK uniform so show some pride and take it upon yourself. The team wore down Ulis tonight and never should have allowed it to go to OT.

So my hopes are diminished after this game. Same problem vs Auburn, zero heart outside of Ulis. Briscoe is a close 2nd but no excuse for his FT’s… NONE! I don’t accept that someone with his talent can’t hit FREE throws. He hasn’t put in the work. There are plenty of examples of NBA players who lack talent but they hit their FT’s. In the gym, every day, every free moment, every chance, standing at the line. Until then, he is useless as a player. A driving guard who can’t hit his FT’s is like a rabbit without a pecker. Nothing can be done until Briscoe puts in the work! And he shouldn’t be in the game while in the bonus. But… who else is Cal gonna put in?

Ok, the team will probably improve and make it as a 4 or 5 seed and that is great! I see little promise for rapid growth from Skal, Murray, Briscoe, and Alex so we’ll putt along in the tournament and see where it goes. I don’t mind the losing, I just hate the lack of heart on this team. Lee has zero excuses… Sweet Baby Jesus! Don’t think I’ve ever seen so much talent go wasted like with this bunch. I guess if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.

But, Go BBN!! You know I’ll be watching the next game but keeping an eye on next year.

So Briscoe playing through cramps didn’t show heart huh? OK. Yea Briscoe isn’t shooting free throws well but if Murray or somebody else would TRY showing up for breakfast club, driving the ball, etc. then maybe Biscoe and Ulis wouldn’t be in the position of trying the crazy and wouldn’t be cramping up at the end of the game.

“We just gotta learn how to play without fouling. That’s something we’ve been struggling with all year,” Alex Poythress said. No Alex, just read KSR and you will see it is always the refs fault so just keep playing like you guys are. I agree with Alex, it has been a problem and while there are missed calls, both ways, in every game the style the teams played is usually the cause. 2nd half is a prime example, in 1st half when we did attack more the ft’s were close. 2nd half they adjusted, we did not, and we forced a ton of bad shots as shot clock expired while KU was driving hard to hoop. That is your ft difference folks, not the refs, too bad KSR and most of it’s readers can’t take their bias out of it to see reality.

I agree with ya. Somebody plz teach these big guys how to not foul. I thought most of the fouls against the cats were good calls(except for last one against mr. Bullitt county). But a lot of whistles against Kansas not called. Like murrays layup at end of 1st half. Stamina cost us the game. They played more guys.

The ignorance of KSR and several comments with a quote from story above……
The story of the game? Fouls

Kansas was 30-47 from the free throw line tonight, while Kentucky was 13-22. That’s your game right there. Kentucky committed TWENTY FIVE more fouls than Kansas, and when you do that, it’s kind of hard to win.

NO STUPID….the fouls were 33 to 20 and we gave 4 or 5 on purpose late in OT so the actual total was 28-20. They took 25 more free throws, not had 25 more fouls called TT, cause we fouled them while shooting or after the bonus. Also we missed alot of ft’s and some were front ends of one and ones. In the first half we were 8-11 and they were 8-12 from the line. Like I said in the second half they adjusted and we could not get to the hoop, no adjustment from Cal, and we forced bad shots while they drove to the hoop or got offensive rebounds. In OT ft’s would have been close had we not given them 10 on purpose at the end. Officiating was not bad, yes there are always missed calls, BOTH WAYS, in a game but it was the style of play in the 2nd half and the adjustments KU made and we did not make.

We get it you think you are better than everybody else, because you have an opinion. It’s wrong but it yours. If you truly believe that ku should have gone from down 2 at the 10 minute mark to up 3 at the 4 minute mark without hittin ONE single shot your just an imbecile. The called 9 total fouls on ku in 25 m
Ins of basketball

We get it you think you are better than everybody else, because you have an opinion. It’s wrong but it yours. If you truly believe that ku should have gone from down 2 at the 10 minute mark to up 3 at the 4 minute mark without hittin ONE single shot your just an imbecile. The called 9 total fouls on ku in 25 mins of basketball. In the same 25 mins they call uk for 24. Yes we had chances to win and yes we may have fouled them more. But you cant say with a straight face that ku only committed 9 fouls in the 2nd half and overtime. Also refs are human. Just like the platers and coaches you so readily heap the blame on. They are not perfect and will never be, but tonight was slightly blatent. Anoher thing to consider is the line was ku -5.5 and they won by 6.

so you think the refs called the last 5 fouls in overtime, the fouls we made on purpose to stop the clock, so KU could beat the line. Shows how smart you are and how dumb I am to even respond to you. Those were fouls we tried to make, refs had nothing to do with the line being made or not. WOW.

Cal made some huge mistakes there at the end. I pointed it out in the 2nd half blog. We kept coming down into half-court offense and Briscoe would be leading the offense. while Ulis ran from corner to corner on the baseline. It failed every time. THEN he brings Ulis back up to lead the offense and he is totally out of sync. Dribbles right in to double teams and gets stripped twice. Cal took him out of rhythm AND set up a fail half-court offense. Took the ball out of the hands of the guy that was having a huge game, Ulis. Go watch the tape, you’ll see.

I know Cal’s disappointed, but I wish some of his comments weren’t so harsh. Yes, we were up 8 and let it slip. But this was MUCH different than the LSU game. They fought, they tried! They didn’t give up! Knowing how sick Ulis was, Cal still played him the entire game. Pre-game reports indicated several other players are sick. The team isn’t the only one to make crucial errors! I know it’s a tough loss but there were a lot of good signs. We went to overtime in a place that is nigh impossible to win at. The flow of the game, overtime especially, was constantly interrupted by the whistle — of historic proportions! For each team to only have one field goal in OT is bizarre! I’d be very careful not to crush the spirits of a team that gave such an effort. It could make the difference what happens from here on out.

I saw the same thing steeler. I’m assuming it was because Tyler was fatigued, a little in game rest. I would rather Cal rest him before the media timeouts. It’s Brandon Knight all over again, wearing him down, got to have some rest during game.

I totally disagree. He played his ass off and he gets called out on foul shooting. He Tried while Murray played so soft and in almost an indifference to what was going on. This game was all on Murray and that is the Rest of the story.

I agree with The Rest of the story. Briscoe & Ulis for that matter were both giving it all of their heart while hurting from major minutes. Murray was just OK on offense, didn’t want to get into the lane and mix it up and Murray was HORRIBLE on defense.

Yea it sucks that Briscoe isn’t hitting free throws. He shot >70% in HS so there’s something there that he needs to get back but he has heart.

Sometimes it isn’t about knowing better. Sometimes it is about taking the risk when others aren’t. Just look at Ulis, the vast majority of the game without turnovers but having to take the risk at the end, getting 2 turnovers when that was basically his only option. Passing to Murray late in the game just resulted in Ulis getting the ball right back within a second or 2 so he had to push his exhausted body even harder.

Lets look at Skal, 4 pts & 1 blk vs 5 fouls, 1 TO & 0 rebounds in 14 min. That sucks. If Humphries and Winyard are so bad that they can’t play and at least you give you that than pull their scholarships along with Skal’s. What about Mulder and Matthews. Ulis can’t play the entire game the rest of the season. I agree, Briscoe is a liability, not an asset, in a lose game.

Hard to believe that Humphries is so bad that Cal plays a 6′ guard in place of out last big man. Cats will lose more games because of out lack of inside presence. A 7′ and 260 pound guy on the bench who never plays and Cal cannot even see him, unreal.

My opinion, this loss, like the Wisconsin loss and the near loss to KU in the championship, is about poor late game coaching rather than Hawkins playing or players not playing winning basketball. Trying to slow the game with a ton of time left. In the Wisconsin game pulling any player who dared take a mid range jumper and didn’t try to force it into the post to KAT. With the post clogged with 5 players and daring us to take a jump shot. That led to desperate shots late in the clock and clock violations.

This game he pulled Murrey for not driving and then stubbornly called for an injured Briscoe, over and over to drive the lane when he clearly was struggling to move at all. He injured his back trying to drive and defend with the cramped leg.

A struggling free throw shooter on a bum leg driving to the basket was the best idea he could come up with in OT? Why sub Hawkins for Murray instead of the injured a Briscoe ?why take the ball out of Tyler’s hands ? We couldn’t get a few minutes from the Aussie who played well against duke? Why so many late desperate shots and shot clock violations? What was the adjustment to the triangle and 2?

The players made enough plays to have us in the game. The coaching took us out of it.

I love how if anybody criticizes cal some boob always says it’s ok if u stop watching UK basketball anymore. Coaches are like politicians. You may not like everything they vote for but they are still your representative. If u can’t see that our offense goes stagnant when UK has a lead in the 2nd half watch Wisconsin game last year and title game in 2012. It is his schtick. I’m a life long UK fan and will always be. But I hate cals schtick. Every coach we have had has something about them we probably don’t like. For example Rick was a ass outside of the game.

All close games, not just this one but ALL are decided by the officials. What they decide is a foul and what isn’t determines the outcome. Just look at the LSU/Ok game if the refs blow a whistle on the last shot we have free throws to decide the game. I’m not saying they have an agenda but are often swayed by the home crowd. 47 foul shots to 22 usually means one team drives the ball and the other shoots jump shots. Not the case here. Let’s stop blaming players and coaches and just go with fate wasn’t on our side last night. Let’s talk Tennessee …

Fouls were certainly a problem but we were also horrible with 3pt defense. It wasn’t like Auburn’s hitting shots with hands in their face. Kansas was just hitting open 3s at a very high percentage.

Also has anybody heard why Matthews got almost no playing time? Was it physical or something else? It was tied for his fewest minutes per game and over the last 3 when we have been playing better he got 12,15 & 17 minutes respectively.

Am i the only one who feels like Cal knows exactly what he’s doing with this team, molding them, slowly, very slowing into the machine they will become in March? By tournament time, this team, having been thru all the wars, having fought and grown as a unit… will be extremely hard to beat. There aren’t any Kansases in Allen Fieldhouse in the tournament. We’re going to see a lot of ‘winning basketball’ out of these guys.

You may be on to something. Not a horrible loss last night but is still stings. I couldn’t sleep after the Auburn game. Last night, no troubles. A month ago I was hoping we just wouldn’t be on the receiving end of a 25 point beatdown. Anyone who wasn’t surprised at halftime is lying.

First of all it was a heckuva game. March-worthy. I thought Kansas should/would win but hoped we would keep it close. It hurts that we had them on the ropes and couldn’t close out. Too many fouls, not enough boards and we struggled with Kansas’ defensive adjustments. I feel really good about the direction of this team. I’ve always thought Cal would have them ready for March and I think we’re slightly ahead of schedule.

Just not a fan of the strategy to run Tyler and the rest of the guards into the ground, Tyler had nothing left in the second half. He couldn’t even bring the ball up and run the offense he was so tired, Zay Briscoe had to run the O most of the second half. They NEED to get Skal more involved on offense to take pressure off the guards. They are defining him by the games earlier in the season, He’s gotten better, I’m sick of them ignoring him in the post when he has good position or a mismatch. They think Alex is the their post presence LOL. I’m going to see how long they keep feeding him before they realize he’s not a post threat. It’s bad basketball to watch the guards dribble the air out the ball late into the clock, it’s bad basketball.

Cal can be retarded as a coach sometimes, like did he really think Tyler could go at that pace all game long? He needs to get Skal involved on offense in the post and in pick and pop so Tyler can have enough energy to close the game out. GIVE THE KID A SHOT! They need to USE SKAL! STOP IGNORING HIM WHEN HE HAS GOOD POSITION CALIPARI!! WORLDWIDE TELL CAL TO INVOLVE THAT KID ON OFFENSE!!

His ridiculous attempt at a block very late in the game leaving his man completely open for an easy put back allowed them to tie it up. It’s reasons like this he doesn’t play, also… They fed him in the post early in the year fairly often, he was terrible. Cal addressed that